10 WWE WrestleMania Sleeper Hits

A sleeper hit is defined as any entertainment product “that was unpromising on release but became a surprise success”. It has nothing to do with taking a nap, which is disappointing.

With WrestleMania cards being as jam-packed as they usually are, some matches inevitably end up falling off the radar, only to take everyone’s breath away with how good they end up being.

These matches were not expected to be anything special, but when all was said and done, they turned out to be absolute dreams.

These are 10 WWE WrestleMania Sleeper Hits!

10. Sami Zayn vs. Johnny Knoxville - WrestleMania 38

At WrestleMania 39, Sami Zayn finally ended his emotional story with The Bloodline by pinning Jey Uso to win him and Kevin Owens the tag team titles.

12 months earlier, he was fighting the guy from Jackass.

Sami Zayn vs. Johnny Knoxville looked as if it was just going to be another stupid celebrity match to help promote the upcoming Jackass movie, but once the dust had settled, it ended up being one of the best matches of the entire weekend.

Not only did Sami commit wholeheartedly to the fact that he hated Knoxville, but the star of Bad Grandpa also put in the work. He played to his strengths, ensnaring Zayn in a number of traps including the classic Jackass giant hand and a literal mousetrap, which he used to get the win.

Throw in an all-time great cameo from Wee Man, who body-slammed Zayn like he was Hogan in ’87 before he got hoofed in the face by Zayn, and the end result was a wildly entertaining brawl that showed off the full potential of what sports entertainment could be.

After this performance, Sami had more than earned his time in the main event scene.

9. Marc Mero & Sable vs. The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust & Luna Vachon - WrestleMania XIV

It’s easy to forget, but Marc Mero was the first big name to jump from WCW to WWE during the Monday Night Wars. Part of why it’s easy to forget that is because the only thing most people remember Mero for is who he was married to.

The former Johnny B. Badd introduced his wife, Rena, who began making on-screen appearances under the name Sable. She was far from dynamite in the ring, but let’s just say she was popular for different reasons during the Attitude Era.

As his wife’s popularity grew, so did Mero’s jealousy, leading to an interesting dynamic at WrestleMania 14, where the couple teamed up to take on the bizarre pairing of Goldust and Luna Vachon.

The menfolk did the majority of the heavy lifting, which was pretty good all things considered, but it was Sable’s star presence that elevated the bout.

Every time she was in the ring, the crowd went wild, especially when she laid out Goldust during the final stretch. When Sable hit a TKO on Luna to win the match, the audience was electric.

8. Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle vs. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon - WrestleMania 34

Ronda Rousey had been on the cusp of joining WWE for a while, but made her big debut at the 2018 Royal Rumble. This led to a confrontation with Stephanie McMahon, who recruited her hubby, Triple H, for a match against Rousey and her friend and fellow Olympian Kurt Angle.

Steph hadn’t been in the ring for four years, Trips and Kurt were legends, but way past their prime, and Rousey was a total unknown. There was every chance this match could have been a catastrophe. Thankfully, it was anything but.

Rather than try and put on a technical clinic, all four stuck to what they were good at, delivering a highly entertaining encounter with more melodrama than a high school relationship.

The match ended when Ronda got her revenge on the Billion Dollar Princess, getting her in-ring WWE career off to a rousing start.

7. Intercontinental Title Ladder Match - WrestleMania 31

WrestleMania 31 did not deserve to be as good as it was. The build for pretty much everything on the card was shocking, and yet it turned out to be one of the better events in the show’s history.

The Intercontinental Championship had been in a right mess before the show, with various contenders playing keepaway with Bad News Barrett’s title like they were toddlers. This resulted in a ladder match for the gold, which stank of lazy booking.

Luckily, there were some incredibly talented people involved.

Alongside Barrett, the match also consisted of R-Truth, Dolph Ziggler, Luke Harper, Stardust, Dean Ambrose, and Daniel Bryan. All seven men went hell for leather to put on a great opening contest, full of spills, chills, and thrills before the American Dragon seized his prize to win a championship on the Grandest Stage for the second year running.

It turns out that, sometimes, all you need for a good wrestling match is to get a bunch of talented performers in one ring and tell them to have at it. With ladders.

6. AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon - WrestleMania 33

AJ Styles began 2017 as WWE Champion, losing the belt to John Cena in a modern classic. So, it’s safe to say fans were less-than-thrilled when it was announced his WrestleMania opponent that year would be Shane McMahon.

Not only would Styles be facing Shane O’Mac, but he’d be doing so in a normal match, without the usual bells and whistles Shane relied upon.

Was McMahon really so delusional that he thought he could hang with an all-time great? As it turned out, yes, but it was fine. The two men worked a very clever match, with AJ toying with Shane for most of the bout, only for the boss’ son to catch him off guard and fight back.

Thankfully, there was a ref bump, so Shane-O got to bust out the old Coast-to-Coast with trash can assist, and he even attempted a goddamn Shooting Star Press before succumbing to the Phenomenal Forearm.

This was far more entertaining than it had any right to be. You could even say that, on this night, Shane was… the Best in the World.

5. Kane vs. Raven vs. Big Show - WrestleMania X-Seven

Prior to 2001, the Hardcore Championship had never been fully utilised at a WrestleMania.

It had mainly been a way to get some lower-card guys onto the card or show off how incompetent WWE were at timing (if the 2000 Hardcore Battle Royal was anything to go by). That all changed at ‘Mania 17, though, as the title got a serious boost.

Raven was the defending champ going in, with his reign under threat from two behemoths, Kane and the Big Show. Their battle was just appropriately gigantic, spilling out of the ring and across the arena, as all three participants engaged in a wild chase.

Windows smashing, walls crumbling, golf carts running over cables that nearly knocked out the power for the whole building, this match had it all, and it ended when the Big Red Machine flung himself off the stage to pin Show and pick up the belt.

One of the craziest matches WrestleMania has ever seen, the Hardcore triple threat is so good that, even though it happened on the same night as TLC 2, Vince versus Shane, and Austin’s heel turn, it is still remembered fondly.

4. Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat, Jimmy Snuka, & Roddy Piper - WrestleMania 25

It’s always depressing when a full-time star has to degrade themselves by competing against an old guy, but three old guys? That’s just taking the mick.

Chris Jericho found himself in this position at WrestleMania 25, after plans for him to face actor Mickey Rourke fell through. Randy The Ram was replaced by “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, who were fighting for the honour of legends everywhere.

Snuka and Piper were predictably poor, however when Steamboat got in the ring, it was an entirely different story.

The Dragon, who had been retired since 1994, could very much still go. He wowed everyone with his athleticism, bumping ability, and ring awareness, and although he lost the match, he had won everyone’s hearts.

The Dragon’s performance here earned him a little bit of an extended run, including a singles rematch with Jericho at Backlash.

3. Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper - WrestleMania VIII

17 years before he embarrassed himself at WrestleMania 25, Roddy Piper was involved in a true classic that ended up being one of the best parts of a fairly disappointing show.

The build-up to WrestleMania 8 had been all about the two so-called “co-main events”; Ric Flair defending the WWE Championship against Randy Savage, and Hulk Hogan taking on former friend, Sid Justice.

These jumbo clashes left zero room on the poster for the Intercontinental Championship match between Piper and Bret Hart, who was looking to reclaim the title after he had lost it to The Mountie, of all people.

Piper and Hart played the veteran versus rising star dynamic to perfection. It was clear that The Hitman was the better wrestler, but the Rowdy Scot kept hanging in there, pulling out some veteran tricks to prolong his only singles WWE title reign.

Hart got the win after pulling out a crafty counter to the sleeper hold, and Hot Rod was gracious enough to truly pass the torch to his rival.

Though it’s remembered fondly now, nobody was talking about this babyface-against-babyface match in the lead-up to the event.

2. Edge vs. Mick Foley - WrestleMania 22

Much like with AJ Styles in 2017, Edge had begun 2006 in the world title picture, winning his first WWE Championship by cashing in Money in the Bank on John Cena. This reign lasted for a whopping… 21 days… and then he lost the belt back to Cena.

To give the Rated-R Superstar something to do, he was put into a programme with the semi-retired Mick Foley, which was hardly the most promising news. Luckily, Foley decided he was going to do everything in his power to put the young Canadian over (or die trying).

Edge and Foley had one of the most brutal battles in WrestleMania history, as Edge needed to prove he could hang with the Hardcore Legend. This is the match that includes the iconic table spot, where Edge speared Mrs Foley’s Baby Boy through the wood whilst it was on fire.

Foley didn’t just put Edge over, he helped solidify him as a main event singles star in what was easily one of the matches of the night.

1. Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg - WrestleMania 33

Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg at WrestleMania 20 was ultimately a historic clash, just for all of the wrong reasons. What should have been an era-defining clash of the titans quickly turned sour when the two bulls, who were both leaving the company, downed tools when fans turned on the bout.

This was in the prime of their careers; there was no way they could redeem themselves 13 years later, right?

The Brock and Bill of 2017 were very different to those of 2004. Both were much more satisfied creatively, off the back of a killer feud that had seen Goldberg return to WWE and squash Lesnar in under 90 seconds at Survivor Series 2016.

At 'Mania 33, they wanted to have a match their way and that’s precisely what they did. These big bastards tore the house down, flattening each other with big move after big move, wrapping things up in under five explosive minutes. Not only did they right the wrongs of Mania 20, but they put on one of the most memorable title matches in ‘Mania history at a combined age of 89.